“However, there were no air raid alerts today. Hence, this is a format of ceasefire that has been achieved and that is the easiest to extend,” he said, proposing that Russia abandon drone and missile strikes on civilian targets for at least 30 days.
If Russia does not agree, it will be proof that it intends to continue doing only those things that destroy human lives and prolong the war, he added.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine had broken the ceasefire more than 1,000 times, damaging infrastructure and causing civilian deaths.
The ministry said Ukrainian forces had shot at Russian positions 444 times while it had counted more than 900 Ukrainian drone attacks, including attacks on Crimea and the Russian border areas of the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions.
“As a result, there are deaths and injuries among the civilian population, as well as damage to civilian facilities,” the ministry said.
Ukraine’s military said earlier on Sunday that activity on the front line had decreased. Some Russian military bloggers also said frontline activity had declined substantially.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the battlefield reports from either side.
The apparent failure to observe even an Easter ceasefire shows how hard it will be for US President Donald Trump to clinch a lasting peace deal. The president still struck an optimistic note Sunday, saying that “hopefully” the two sides would make a deal “this week” to end the conflict.
The US will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon, Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Friday.
Source: CNA
